Choices March 10, 2011
Posted by jvmullin in Job Searching.Tags: attitude, career search, careers, job hunting, Job Search, job seeking, jobs careers job hunting, mentor, rage, reality, recruiting, stress, Viewpoint
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Where do I start with choices that job seekers have? There are not many and they are all tough choices.
We are up against the worst job market since probably the depression. It isn’t getting any better. The government is absolutely no help as they are controlled by finance and big business. Just look at AIG and Goldman Sachs, they bail them out only to have these companies go right back to business as usual and the government sits silent and does nothing. Oh they put on an air pushing for reform but that was to appease the tax payers and then let it die in the media and congress.
Since things are so frustrating job seekers are in a front line battle with HR and recruiters. This is one of those feuds that have been going on far too long like the Hatfield’s and the McCoys. At least in some groups the better recruiters are trying diligently to train job seekers and bad recruiters as to how it done properly.
It could be companies have agents to keep this feud going as it detracts from them who are the real problem here. Them! Yes they are the ones that can’t make a decision, they have no clue what they really need, and their attitude about unemployed need no apply.
Then there are there job postings. What moron is writing these things up? They themselves couldn’t fill the position they are advertising as they would be highly underqualified.
There are many merger and acquisitions going on which equates to more layoffs and then companies are still laying off anyway. AOL just laid off 200 in the US only. Thanks AOL for boosting the economy. I am glad I got away from them many years ago.
So what choices do we have with all this going against us.
The choices are these;
1.) Refuse to be intimidated by the situation and all the players in it.
2.) Resolve to stay positve and help others like yourself stay positive.
3.) Do not give up ever! Yes it is tough but you are a professional and do professionals throw in the towel? No! They find solutions. So find yours!
4.) Get out of the house, network, walk, get a cup of coffee or tea, visit a friend who is unemployed.
5.) Stick to your values and ethics.
6.) They cannot take away your knowledge, skills and experience. But just because you are not working doen’t mean yu can’t use them to help you land that next job.
7.) Stop generating excuses and being a naysayer. Get positive and confident.
8.) Get into LinkedIn Job hunt groups and also recruiter groups so that you can have discussion and not assumptions. The good ones will help you.
9.) Help out around the house but wait until after dinner, your 9-5 is your job search job nothing else.
So it boils down to your choice is to let this defeat you or you can pull yourself up by the bootstraps and move forward.
Is it time to fight back? February 23, 2011
Posted by jvmullin in Job Searching, Job Searching.Tags: attitude, career, career search, careers, HR, job hunting, Job Search, job seeking, jobs careers job hunting, rage, reality, recruiting, stress, Viewpoint
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I hear horror stories form job seekers on a daily basis. I find it at times hard to phathom how recruiters HR and companies can be so insensitive and unethical and especially unprofessional. How these people are totally clueless to the impact that their actions have on them, their industry, their field, and their business. The fact that the leadership nay the , because they lack leadership, allows this to happen and in some cases condones it. i.e. unemployeed need not apply!
We hear from all types of sources that we can not use abbreviations nor acronyms in our resumes, which by the way are industry specific and widely used in that industry. However when we view job postings they are laden with exactly what we are not allowed to use. This double standard has a negative reflection on HR and recruiters but then they don’t care. They are of the school of do as I say not as I do. Well I for one and I am sure there are many am fed up with the double standard. I probably will not get the job nor do I want to work for such companies anyway so I might as well enjoy the process my way.
We see it on job boards, God why is anyone still using them?, we see it on LinkedIn and other sites.
I have started a campaign to right this injustice.
When I see things like “I’m Hiring” I will not inquire if they are talking humans or animals. Which MLM or insurance company do they represent.
No I don’t want to buy or sell viagra and no I don’t want to hear your how to get rich scheme where the only one making millions is you off of desperate people.
I will point out that the ad is confusing between abbreviations and acronyms and if I am told that it is okay for the ad because it is industry standards I will put them in my resume with a bold note at the top informing them that all abbreviations and acronyms are industry standards.
I will also make it a habit to point out to them poor grammar and spelling errors. Then inform them that I could not work for a company with such poor work ethics.
Our time is valuable as we work much longer hours than they do trying to find work so that we may survive. So I feel it is in our right to dish back to them the junk they throw at us all the time.
Maybe just maybe it may strike a chord in their small minds and bring to light how unprofessional and callous they have been.
I pointed out the one HR person yesterday as to how it wasted my time responding to his “Excellent oppotunity” ad just to find out it was for sales. Yes that is the exact spelling from the ad and I pointed that out as well.
I received an apology and a thanks for the feedback and a promise that he would be more respectful in the future.
So it is a start of my mission for us all.
Job Hunt desires and humor! January 13, 2011
Posted by jvmullin in Job Searching.Tags: attitude, career search, humor, job hunting, Job Search, job seeking, jobs careers job hunting, rage, stress, Viewpoint
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Do you ever get the urge to step outside and scream at the top of your lungs, I am somebody dammit and I am qualified for the jobs I submit too.
I know that I do.
The other idea that just popped into my head was to have in large 16 or 18 point bold Ariel font at the top of my resume the following.
For human consumption only! Not responsible for making scanning software ignorant!
or the other idea,
To be read by an intelligent caring human being preferably a hiring manager.
But that would be an oxymoron then wouldn’t it.
I would like to get a large gathering of HR professionals, I use that term very loosely, and give them all a behavioral and psychological test/interview. Provide them with with all the assessment test to take. When all was completed I would match their results up to a industry standard job posting and fire everyone of them that didn’t match exactly.
Then I would post their postions and if they applied would send them a form letter saying that although we were impressed with your quailifcation we found much better qualified candidates.
Just what are the qualifications for an HR position?
Heartless?
Unable to see potential from reading a resume? Is reading still a requirement?
Reading Comprehension? Replaced by scanning software!
Pigeon Holing?
Rationalization?
I think that one day soon I will search for HR positions to see what the requirements are.
Will it require them to have every combination of alphabet after their name?
Will it require being a recent college grad willing to work for dirt but have 15 years of experience?
Will it say that most of you who apply while qualified will be told your over or that there are better qualified than you?
Career Coaches are another target pet peeve of mine!
How to find a job by committee consensus! A group of self appointed career coaches gathered for a week of drunken debauchery and decided these are the things that you need to do to find a job. Of course we have jobs so we don’t nor care if they work.
Research was done recently on LinkedIn profiles to find the most used and abused word and phrases and the total was 50. I read all 50 and found that every single one of them are what you are told to use to stand out by career coaches and so called HR experts.
By doing this they have rendered these words and phrases a meaningless to hiring managers.
It did not surprise me that when I checked I my resume and profile not one single word or phrase did I find.
To differentiate is to not fall inline like a lemming with everyone else. However scanning software is not AI (artificial intelligence) and can’t tell that you are qualified and differentiating. Apparently neither can HR nor career coaches.
Let us not forget the battle over resume length! The trenches are dug and the battle wages on. It appears to be evenly matched and no winner any time soon.
I think the one page reasoning is that there comprehension time isn’t long enough to get to page 2. How did they ever get through college?
Maybe the reason is because the 2-3,000 resume they claim to receive for 1 post is lighter than if you has some 2,3 or 4 page resumes in the pile. There job doesn’t require heavy lifting.
I once sent a professional profile instead of a resume. I received a call from an HR type who couldn’t comprehend what the profile was saying and asked for a 1 page resume. Chronological of course! I said for a mid level manager position a 1 page resume would be insufficient. His reply was that is what I was told to ask for. I said then I rescind my application because I cannot work for a company like yours. Then I had to explain rescind.
I apologize if I sound like I am complaining it is just that I tired of having to deal with a system that is terribly broken and the people in the system will do nothing to fix it. There latest committee fix to the problem was to change their name from Human Resource to Human Capital to make themselves feel less hated. Well it didn’t work you still look like incompetent Bozoos from the outside looking in.
2011 Better year or more frustration?? December 30, 2010
Posted by jvmullin in Job Searching.Tags: attitude, career search, job hunting, job seeking, jobs careers job hunting, rage, stress, Viewpoint
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I don’t know about you but I am fed up with the conflicting articles about the economy and unemployment figures.
My take on the economy is that the people hyping the economy are paid by big business so as not to bite the hand that feeds them they will say things are looking great so that you will spend money to boost the economy that isn’t great. The economy as I see it is in shambles still and will remain that way for 5- 6 years at the minimum. The economy is in an oscillation and will remain that way due to all the false hope presented by the economist.
The other thing driving this false notion id the fact that US based companies are doing well offshore, they are hiring in other countries while continually laying off here at home. Their stocks are going up because they are being profitable on the books. This is great for the company but has no effect on our economy. It certainly isn’t producing jobs here.
What lesson can you learn from this? You can start broadening your job search to offshore or stay here and perish.
If you are still thinking about using job boards in 2011 then I pity you and hope that you can somehow manage to keep food on the table and a roof over your head in the coming year. I see job boards as becoming passe in 2011 as they are for companies and recruiters and really do not serve our interest as seekers. The information they provide seekers is the same tripe I feel that is keeping you from landing that position.
That brings me to all the career expert, coaches and trainers that have been like the job boards been putting out the same BS and tripe all through 2010. I think they are desperate as they are loosing business because we seekers can no longer afford them or have found out it has been monies wasted. I feel that we know our industry and markets far better than they do. We understand the hurdles and barriers to entry better than they do. We have also learned that job boards are ineffective for the most part when finding a new career. I want to see or hear something new or innovative from these people in 2011 something that is truly useful to us seekers. It is time for the broken record of 2010 to end. Get on the fad wagon of industry and get innovative!
So that leads me to companies and the hiring practices of 2010. Hey hiring managers get a clue will ya! Do you have any idea really of what you need for the present or the future? Do you remember or have you heard of manpower studies? This would help you tremendously in figuring it out. I know from experience that it really works. But to let some of the burden off of you guys I know that your job is made more difficult by those above you who haven’t a clue or are afraid to make a decision for fear of looking like an idiot. Well I have news for them they look like an idiot either way so make a decision and stick to it.
And since I am on a roll here with my frustrations lets not forget the seekers for 2011.
I have been working with fellow professionals fro the last 2 years trying to help them make sense of all this and to get them to get their heads together and start thinking like a professional again. For some it has taken for others it is hopeless. I am trying hard to help one friend as she is fully aware and gets the whole picture and like me we just can’t seek to get our foot in the right door to present ourselves. A company that hires us will never regret it as the ROI is much higher than what are loaded labor costs would be. But for other seekers I am tired of providing information and suggestions to these people just to be ignored or they do not utilize the tools given to them. I am also tired of hearing that their industry has disappeared but they are still sitting here looking instead of looking where the industry might be hiring. The usual excuse is that “well I have family here”. Yes and it is called transportation for a reason. Last I knew, correct me if I am wrong here, phone and roads work both ways. What a revelation!!! You can travel by car, bus, train, or plane to visit. You have telephone. cell phone, Skype, Facebook and other means for staying in touch. So the I have family here excuse is just that an excuse to take a risk and move on. It is out of fear of the unknown. Change your attitude and look at it as an adventure not a disaster waiting to happen. Look at it as a way to meet and make new friends to explore a new area to get back to enjoying work instead of being miserable at home. Do what I did. I say down with my children awhile ago and told them , look I love yo all dearly but I have to go where the work is and we can visit each other. Guess what they understood and accepted the fact that this is the new reality in this country. So for 2011 get rid of the excuses about family and schools and such and support your family by landing a good job where ever and start fresh. The alternative is to stay put and loose everything. The choice is yours think about it.
So if I have everyone mad at me at this point I have accomplished my goal for the end of 2010 it was a bad year anyway. I am looking forward to a better and brighter new year. If you understood the points that I tried to make come join me if not I am leaving you on my dust try not to choke to death!
New College Grads What are they to do? December 11, 2010
Posted by jvmullin in Job Searching, Job Searching.Tags: attitude, career search, careers, job hunting, Job Search, job seeking, jobs careers job hunting, rage, reality, stress, Viewpoint
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We have been taught all our live that to get a good job you need a good education. So after we graduate high school we go right off to college. The jobs they have held during high school and college are not even related to what they are studying. It is just the jobs they can get to make some cash.
Now they have hustled to earn that degree and graduate hopefully in the top of their class only to be told now that they need the experience to get the job.
Oh to be stuck in the Catch 22 syndrome I can’t get the experience without the job and I can’t get the job with out the experience.
I tell my clients and my children who are in college to get the summer internships to get the experience. I suggest that if the college or University has a coop program that they take that extra year to get the experience. This way they are in a better position than those that didn’t because they will have both the education and the experience.
I guess those that came up with this policy have forgotten what it was like when they started. I guess they have forgotten that they want the latest techniques and subject knowledge which you get from school. They forget that as they move people up they need the new people to train to become part of their succession program. Or have they abandon that train of thought?
I guess that I am too logical and forward thinking to get a grasp on the idea of not hiring new grads because they lack experience. I guess in my head it comes across as ignorance and incompetence. A lack of ethics and morales. I feel that I should compel a list of these companies so I know where to tell my clients not to apply to because it would not be conducive to their future plans. That their future will more likely be stifled by the mind set controlling these companies and that their future will more than likely be in jeopardy.
To date I have not had one person who could provide a good rational or business explanation to this practice. Why is that? What does that tell you?
IT tell me that it is based on some irrational thought process and what does that tell me. Red Flags!
Got a new attitude! December 8, 2010
Posted by jvmullin in Job Searching, Job Searching.Tags: attitude, Job Search, jobs careers job hunting, rage, reality, stress, Viewpoint
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I have come to the realization of why I have not landed a job in two years. Well there are the minor side issues credit score is so low I have my own number, I have been out of the industry for awhile because I can’t speak any Chinese dialect, They think that I am too old etc.
My realization is that I scare the hell out of them!!!!! Yes it is true I scare the hell out them. You ask why?
Why is because I have a high IQ and common sense which is a deadly combination. I have far superior leadership skills than they do. I can actual solve problems even outside my normal job. I mean that if I was a hiring manager reading my resume and realized that I could outperform you in my sleep I would be quaking in my boots too.
So I have come to the realization that there are not any companies left in America with great leadership and common sense and intelligence that could use such a great talent as myself.
I mean here I am a guy who knows how to handle risk and to mitigate it so it doesn’t totally destroy us if it doesn’t work. Risk now there is a term that needs to be Politically corrected so that we sugar coat to a point where it no longer sounds bad and frightening. Maybe then Corporate America will get their head out of their ass and move forward with some intelligence and common sense. But alas PC is the enemy of Common sense and intelligence. Alas there may be no hope for me to find a niche to work in.
But damn the ignorant masses I know who I am and what I am capable of. I know that I have great value to offer and what that value is worth. Trust me it is worth far more than the ROI the company will get that hires me. I have always out paced my loaded labor costs with the amount of profit realization that I have provided to companies.
However I find myself having to deal with inept HR Capital that have lost the ability to read into a resume the talent that is truly there. It has gone and replaced with the buzzword count to gauge the worthiness of a candidate. Gone are the days of embracing free thinking and innovative thought and being replaced with meek yes men and women who won’t rock the boat.
Yes alas there is no longer an atmosphere conducive for me to shine in. To make others look greater than they are. To make monies for a companies by attacking issues that others ignore or look over for lack of drive or initiative.
In finding a company where the CEO has not adopted the sports mentality of it is more about the money and the contract than the love of the game. I think it is time to renew my passport and see if I can find a country in Europe where my talents are appreciated as they are no longer appreciated here in America.
My new attitude is screw them they do not deserve me. Let them wallow in mediocrity. Let them continue to just get by until utter failure hits them in the face. They deserve it. My only regret is for the people it will effect because they do not deserve what they will get.
Here is a closing story my oldest son told me today. He works for the phone company. The detail officer told him that he just had to arrest a guy for beating on an HR person who told him that the company doesn’t hire the unemployed.
Now I am not sure that the HR person deserved it, It could of been a case of shooting the messenger but in a way they did because they are part of the problem not the solution. But the guy should have also the CEO and opened a can of whoop ass on him too. Maybe it would have been a wake up call. I mean think about it it would have shown that the guy was resourceful in finding him and takes initiative by kicking his ass. If I had a company I would hire that guy for those 2 reasons alone.
Let me know if you have a new attitude or what you think of the story.
Holiday Attitude feelings December 6, 2010
Posted by jvmullin in Job Searching, Job Searching.Tags: attitude, career search, job hunting, Job Search, job seeking, rage, stress, Viewpoint
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I have one wish for the unemployed underemployed and soon to be unemployed this holiday season.
I wish you HOPE for the future for you, your families and for America which as lost its way.
While I have been trying very hard to keep my attitude in check. After 2 years of unemployment and my benefits having Oct 1st. I find my attitude has turned to one a bitterness. I am sure that I am not alone. I am thankful and grateful for my oldest son who is paying my rent for Nov. and December. Then he is not going to be able to help after that as he has his own financial problems. I am applying for anything and everything but don’t seem to be getting any takes on any of it. Is it the fact that I have 2 degrees and that I am a professional that scares them off? IS it the fact that I am 59 years old? I still have plenty of good years to contribute as my view is that I am 2 twenty year olds. I have a vast array of experience and have performed very well in each, yet I cannot find a job anywhere. As my youngest would say WTF!
As I sit here trying to contemplate what my future will be after December, I can’t help feeling like I am stranded on the Island of Misfit Toys. I feel like I do not belong anywhere any more. Like the toys on the Island all I have left is Hope that some hiring manager will like me and want to have me. Like the misfit toys I would be so grateful I that I would be the most exceptional employee they have. But alas I have no Rudolph, Abominable, Yukon Jack or Cornelius to tell Santa to rescue me. So I guess I remain on the Island with the rest of the Misfits. The only thing that is a real analogy here is that we Misfits know that we are not Misfits but are very good.
I wish you all the best holidays that you can muster up. Remember this, it is not about material things but about each other and the love and support that you can give each other. This my friends is worth more than all the gold in the world.
Peace Love and Hope!
The economy is getting better but unemployment is up 9.8% December 3, 2010
Posted by jvmullin in Job Searching, Job Searching.Tags: attitude, career search, careers, job hunting, Job Search, job seeking, jobs careers job hunting, rage, reality, stress, Viewpoint
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This post is going to cover 2 topics; 1.) rise in unemployment and 2.) the uneducated statements of Cathrine Rampell of the New York Times.
We keep hearing that the economy is getting better yet despite that the unemployment figure is not declining at the same pace or is even rising despite the fact that some companies are claiming better numbers.
There are a number of ways companies can make it appear they are doing better while actually they are flat or in decline. Look at the news for Toll Brothers they claim a good 4th quarter but that is based on a tax write off.
An article the other day says that credit card use is down significantly. Then they go on to say that it is mainly due to banks cancelling cards or people being overdrawn on the cards they have. The only credit a few people in actually cutting up the cards or just not using them.
So if banks are not lending and credit card companies are not giving credit then how do they expect the economy to recover any time soon?
It appears that business has forgotten the basic economic rules of business. What I see going on is not going to help matters either. Larger companies are buying up smaller companies they see as a future threat or a way to help build themselves up against the other competitors. While this is good for the business it usually means more unemployed as there is always a reduction due to eliminating redundancies in the two companies.
So pardon me for not believing the hype that the economy is improving based on some roller coaster numbers. I will stick to the reality of what is going on based on real economics not voodoo economics.
Second topic:
I read this on Yahoo this morning it is titled “Unemployed, and likely to stay that way” by Cathrine Rampell of the New York Times.
Here is a reporter that needs to get out of the office and talk to the 9.8% unemployed to get to the truth not just based on her conjecture.
She starts out by claiming that Europe has already come to grips with the long term unemployment situation while America is only just starting. Well Cathrine you are dead wrong! We have come to grips along time ago. We saw the handwriting on the wall well over a year ago. Organizations like WIND Networking for Unemployed Professionals here in Massachusetts and a myriad of job hunt groups on LinkedIn have been all over that topic for well over a year.
The fact that you like many other uninformed employed workers look down on us is atrocious and perpetuates the misconceptions about us. Shame on you!
Yes in past recessions the layoffs were companies dumping their dead wood that I agree but this recession the major number of unemployed are highly qualified people, who have been deemed over qualified as an excuse not to hire them. Companies are looking to save cost by hiring younger cheaper labor. This of course costs more money in the short term as they have to pay for repeated mistakes that we already knew to avoid.
To infer that we just sit around waiting for the next job while doing nothing to improve ourselves is another perpetuation of a big business lie to not hire us. Now we are dealing with big business blatantly saying in post unemployed need not apply.
Cathrine the old saying goes if you are not part of the solution then you are part of the problem. I am sure business thanks you for perpetuating their myths about us so that they can sleep better at night.
As far as the people I represent, thanks for nothing. We do not think that highly of you either!
Survival or Take any job! December 2, 2010
Posted by jvmullin in Job Searching, Job Searching.Tags: attitude, career, career search, careers, job hunting, Job Search, job seeking, jobs careers job hunting, rage, reality, stress, Viewpoint
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It amazes me that people with a comfortable job can tell someone who is struggling to keep a roof over their head, food on the table and their family in tact that they shouldn’t succumb to taking any job. I mean what world are these people living in? Place yourself in their shoes before you make such a thoughtless statement. You have a job and your dealing with inflation they do not have a job their benefits just got cut and they are dealing with a depression. So isn’t your world cozy!
Sorry but I am a realist. I am trying to live both sides. I am trying to get a company going so that I have a job and I am one of those who benefits have run out and I am trying to survive by talking anything. Most days my food intake is 1 hamburger patty no bun or condiments. I have lost about 30 lbs lately. So don’t try to tell me that I should stay focused on the career that I really want. Not when there are more and more companies out there getting away with unemployed need not apply.
My recommendation is to not give up on your dream job while you are also looking for anything that will allow you to survive. Put your dream job on simmer while you bring survival to a full boil. Until Corporate America gets their head out of their rear end, it is what it is in the new America.
Remember the movie Soylent Green with Edward G. Robinson and Charelton Heston? It isn’t far off if things don’t change.
Job seeking from a hunters perspective Blog 